Join us for a hike along the Floracliff uplands and down to the junction of Evan's Branch and Elk Lick Creek. Depending on the water level, we may cross the creek for a longer hike. Along the way we'll keep an eye out for birds and learn a bit of natural history.
Trees reveal distinctive clues to their identities in every season. Join arborist and naturalist, Nathan Skinner, to learn how to identify trees in winter by observing bark, buds, and leaf scars.
Instructor: Dr. Neil Pederson
Tree rings provide precise annual and seasonal information on climate, ecology, and competition over several centuries. In this dendro-ecology workshop, participants will learn the methods that tree ring scientists use to learn the language of trees. By the end of the day, participants will learn how to interpret the information we get from tree rings over the long lives of trees and have experience coring a tree.
This wildflower hike will cover natural history, folklore, pollinator relationships, and other information about some of our early spring ephemerals.
Learn to identify some of our earliest spring ephemeral wildflowers. Along the way we will discuss natural history, pollinator relationships, and more.
The Kentucky River Palisade cliffs provide a stunning backdrop for spring wildflowers as well as a microclimate. Join us in observing the variety of wildflowers blooming and the change in species composition as we descend 300ft in elevation from the Floracliff uplands to the Kentucky River floodplain.
This wildflower hike will cover natural history, folklore, pollinator relationships, and other information about some of our early spring ephemerals.
Celebrate spring's beauty and explore some of the connections between spring wildflowers, their habitats, and us.
This wildflower hike will cover natural history, folklore, pollinator relationships, and other information about some of our spring ephemerals.
Learn to identify some of our spring ephemeral wildflowers. Along the way we will discuss natural history, pollinator relationships, and more.
This wildflower hike will cover natural history, folklore, pollinator relationships, and other information about some of our spring ephemerals.
This wildflower hike will cover natural history, folklore, pollinator relationships, and other information about some of our spring ephemerals.
Experience Floracliff in full bloom! Join us for a rare opportunity to view the abundance of spring ephemeral wildflowers on display throughout the sanctuary.
Experience Floracliff in full bloom! Join us for a rare opportunity to view the abundance of spring ephemeral wildflowers on display throughout the sanctuary.
Join us for this May 1st hike to enjoy the remaining ephemeral wildflowers and celebrate the changing season.
Accomplished birder and Shaker Village Preserve Manager, Ben Leffew, will lead this hike featuring the diversity of birds that use the forests of the Kentucky River Palisades. Ben will teach participants to identify birds by sight, sound, behavior, and habitat. This program takes place during peak migration and will prepare participants who may be interested in Global Big Day and other citizen science birding programs.
Zeb Weese, Executive Director of the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, will lead this program for all ages to find some of our native frogs, snakes, salamanders, and turtles in the various habitats of Floracliff, including ponds, fields, and streams.
Our native frogs and toads breed in shallow waters during Spring and the evenings are a great time to get close-up views of them. During this program, we will visit the ponds near the nature center to inspect the frog activity. We expect to find Cope’s gray treefrogs and possibly a few others. All visitors need to bring a flashlight and wear close-toed shoes.
With close to 150 species in this genus found in Kentucky, the diversity of sedges (Carex) is astounding and they can tell us a lot about the natural communities upon which they are found. Join OKNP botanists Devin Rodgers and Tara Littlefield on a hike to learn some of the most common sedges found in the Bluegrass.
With a commitment to conservation and a curiosity about the natural world, our volunteers offer a unique perspective of Floracliff. In 2020, these dedicated volunteers are leading a series of afternoon hikes, highlighting the trails and terrain that they care for at Floracliff.
Kentucky is home to over 150 butterfly species. This webinar presentation will feature over 45 of our most common summer butterflies in Central Kentucky. Participants will learn tricks for identification, basic biology of butterflies, and their relationships with native plants. We will also cover citizen science projects and resources so that participants can document and share their butterfly observations.
With an amazing variety of colors and sizes, moths are among the most diverse organisms on earth. They play an important role in our ecosystem and share intricate relationships with native plants, birds, and bats. Join us for this program to kick off National Moth Week.
In this program we’ll explore some of the ways our ideas about the development of eastern North American forests have dramatically changed, especially by incorporating the keystone ecological presence of humans on that landscape.
In lieu of our regularly scheduled hikes and programs, we are currently offering limited private guided hikes at Floracliff on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for groups of up to 4 or 8 people. One ticket covers everyone in your group.
In lieu of our regularly scheduled hikes and programs, we are currently offering limited private guided hikes at Floracliff on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for groups of up to 4 or 8 people. One ticket covers everyone in your group.
In lieu of our regularly scheduled hikes and programs, we are currently offering limited private guided hikes at Floracliff on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for groups of up to 4 or 8 people. One ticket covers everyone in your group.
Come join us as we explore the fantastic world of fungi in this webinar. We will discuss mushroom biology and ecology, and highlight the basics of how to identify different kinds of fungi. Commonly found mushrooms of Kentucky will be featured, as well as discussion surrounding the many roles fungi can play in ecology and forest health, from the good, to the bad, to the downright creepy. Just in time for fall rains and the mushrooms that accompany them, join us for an evening of fun fungi facts.
For millennia, diverse native groups have called the rich Bluegrass region "home." Focusing on those resources - plants, animals, stone, clay, water - we review the dynamic human-environment interaction that began when humans arrived in the region at the end of the last ice age.
Presenter: Dr. Neil Pederson, Harvard Forest
Trees are witnesses of how our shared environment changes over time. The oldest trees, in fact, and perhaps not surprisingly, often have the best stories. In this webinar, Dr. Neil Pederson will share how people have learned to recognize and “interview” the eldest trees in the forest. Their stories can gives us insight on the dynamics of our world.
Join Floracliff Nature Sanctuary and fellow nature lovers for a virtual trivia night. We will test your knowledge on our local trees, frogs, butterflies, and more!
Presented by: Rob Paratley, University of Kentucky
This webinar presented by Rob Paratley begins in 18th Century Sweden with botanist Carl Linnaeus, the so-called “Father of Taxonomy” (the science of classifying Nature). Linnaeus’ conversation with Nature, the How and What of Nature’s diversity, are with us yet today, but he and those that followed left unanswered the questions of Why. Why is Nature patterned the way that Linnaeus first saw? What causes natural groups? What does natural affinity actually mean? Religious men and creationists, the best they could do was to invoke the plan of the Deity. This changed forever with Darwin’s Great Taxonomic Insight. Rob will discuss how Darwin’s evolutionary thinking changed forever the way we converse with Nature.
Presented by Beverly James, Preserve Director
As the days become longer and the temperatures begin to warm, the forest floor comes alive with spring wildflowers and the wildlife they attract. This webinar will guide you through the wildflower season at Floracliff, taking a closer look at the phenology, pollinator relationships, and natural history of our most treasured spring wildflowers.
Join us for a wildflower hike to Elk Lick Falls. Hopefully, we will see some of our earliest spring wildflowers, such as bloodroot, trout lilies, and spring beauties.